Monthly Archives: October 2013

DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH

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Direct Speech / Quoted Speech

Saying exactly what someone has said is called direct speech (sometimes called quoted speech)

Here what a person says appears within quotation marks (“…”) and should be word for word.

For example: She said, “Today’s lesson is on presentations.”

or

“Today’s lesson is on presentations”, she said.

 

Indirect Speech / Reported Speech

Indirect speech (sometimes called reported speech), doesn’t use quotation marks to enclose what the person said and it doesn’t have to be word for word.

When reporting speech the tense usually changes. This is because when we use reported speech, we are usually talking about a time in the past (because obviously the person who spoke originally spoke in the past). The verbs therefore usually have to be in the past too.

For example: He said he was going to the cinema

 

Changing Pronouns

When changing from direct speech to indirect speech, it is often necessary to change the pronouns to match the subject of the sentence.

For example: She said, “I want to bring my children.” → She said she wanted to bring her children.

Jack said, “My wife went with me to the show.” → Jack said his wife had gone with him to the show.


Changing Time Signifiers

It is also important to change time words (signifiers) when referring to present, past or future time to match the moment of speaking.

For example:

She said, “I want to bring my children tomorrow.” → She said she wanted to bring her children the next day.

Jack said, “My wife went with me to the show yesterday.” → Jack said his wife had gone with him to the show the day before.

 

EXAMPLE DIRECT SPEECH:

—  She said, “It’s cold.“

—  “Today’s homework is make a simple sentence”, she said

—  He said, “Today’s homework is make a simpe sentence.”

—  She said, “I’ve been in class since 7.30.

—  Anto said, “iwas riding new bike.

—  “My name is topan yurnalis” ,he said

—  He said, “I’d already been swimming for one hour .”

—  She said, “The concert had already started when he came.”

—  He said, “I bought shoes yesterday.

—  She said, “I’ll sell the remote tomorrow.”

 

EXAMPLE INDIRECT SPEECH

·         She said she was driving a car this morning

·         He said that he had been reading a book since this morning

·         She said she had arived yesterday.

·         He said he had been teaching grammar

·         Ani said she would buy powder in market tomorrow..

·         Aisah said that she could run fast if there is a robber

·         He said his  name was Topan yurnalis

·         She said that she had been on the bus before anto come.

 

Source : http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/reportedspeech.html

    http://tx.english-ch.com/teacher/julia/others/changing-direct-to-indirect-speech/